Casting News Sparks More ‘Dark Knight Rises’ Secret Villain Rumors

While Chris Nolan and Co. may have known for certain who the primary villain in Dark Knight Rises was years ago, everyone else only found out at the beginning of 2011. Heck, even after Tom Hardy was officially confirmed to portray Bane in the film, rumors continued to circulate that someone like Dr. Hugo Strange (in some capacity) would also face off against the Caped Crusader in Nolan’s trilogy finale!

There is one well-known Batman antagonist who has long been rumored to appear in the movie; however, to further discuss that subject – and, to address a recent story that seemingly confirms the character’s involvement in Dark Knight Rises’ plot – we’ll have to venture into some potential spoiler territory. You’ve been warned…

POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD!

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The Batman villain (or, rather, villainess) in question is, of course, Talia al Ghul. Dark Knight Rises‘ starlet Marion Cotillard’s evasive comments about her role in the film only heightened suspicions that she is secretly portraying the daughter of League of Shadows mastermind, Ra’s al Ghul; amateur footage of the film’s production also revealed Cotillard on set, dressed in a militaristic outfit and climbing into (Bane’s?) camouflage Tumbler. As far as some fans are concerned, that’s more than enough to suggest that Cotillard is indeed playing Talia.

Add one more piece of “evidence” to the pile, in the form of a Surry Comet article about eight-year-old Sutton actress Leilah De Meza being offered the part of “young Talia al Ghul” in Dark Knight Rises. According to her mother, Meza ended up taking a pass on that Dark Knight Rises role, seeing as the young girl would’ve had to shave her head for the part – something her parent felt “could have affected Leilah’s confidence and general social welfare.”

Will a grown-up Talia appear in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’?

If we assume that at least a young Talia is slated to show up in The Dark Knight Rises, then she will almost certainly appear via the flashback scenes to a young Ra’s al Ghul (Josh Pence). There’s already rampant speculation going around that Joey King may be the underage actress who actually portrays the shaven-headed Talia in said sequences – some of which were hinted at in a now-defunct Dark Knight Rises prologue description.

That said: at this point, it would be more shocking to learn that Cotillard isn’t portraying the adult Talia al Ghul – who has ties to both Bane and the League of Shadows. That’s no guarantee that the character won’t be featured solely as an adolescent in flashbacks (assuming she does show up, at all) but, still…

All shall be revealed when The Dark Knight Rises hits theaters around the U.S. on July 20th, 2012.

Thats not a spoiler in my book. Also, this is gonna have so many characters in it, I hope Nolan isnt trying to cram as much into this film to give it that OMG! look at everything going on here effect. Like Batman and Robin did. What ever the case is, I will see the film. Form my own opinions. Which is what everyone should do. Nolan knows what hes doing, I think it will be good.

“The world of Batman, indeed the world of all graphic novels, deals with archetypes,” he says, “And there’s a very real sense in which The Joker is an extreme and an absolute and Batman is an extreme and an absolute. So whe you’re looking to continue the story – in this case finish Bruce Wayne and Batman’s story, as we see it – then you certainly don’t want a watered-down version of a character you’ve already done. You want a different archetype. What Bane represents in the comics is the ultimate physical villain.”

He`s absolutely right !…Nolan is on point why would he have the Riddler as the main Villain when he`s just like The Joker playing mind games with Batman, dont get me wrong my favorite villain is Riddler but I totally agree…..GENIUS !!!

Actually I agree with Ghost. As much as Riddler is different much is the same between The Joker. Another mental challenge would be too similiar to TDK and most likely w/o the emmotional/personal investment that the joker can bring. A physical antagonist is a great way to test batman.

I agree with that, the way I read what Ghost had said, it seemed as if he was trolling. Ghost, I am sorry if I came off a bit hostile, just a lot of people with negativity towards certain movies on ScreenRant as of late.

It still would have been great to have David Tennant as The Riddler :D.

i think its a matter of who plays the riddler… at one point i though that Levitt was going to play it,and i though it was a nice choice of actor since he is not jim carey (not that i dont like jim carey, i dont like his version of the riddler) and you have to remember that nobody knew that heath ledgers Joker was gonna be as good as it was since we all had jack nicholson’s version fresh in our memories, and his version was good! so, i think that as i said, it is a matter of who portraits it.

I had not heard about JGL picking up where Rises leaves off. That would be interesting. Their gonna have to make his character really engaging and likable if they hope to have any chance of him sustaining another film or a series for that matter. This movie is gonna have to be 4 hours long to fit everything into it. I’m okay with that. What about you guys?

I agree with you the movie will have to be at the least over 2 hrs, but even when films are 2 to 3 hrs long if the story is so good and well paced that those 2 or 3hrs go by so fast that makes it seem like you haven’t been sitting in the theater what seems like forever then the director has done his job and has brought another great film that we will all want to add to our collection.

The Dark Knight was close to 3hrs and I didn’t notice. As with all of Nolan’s films, I just don’t want them to end. If TDKR is the master epic I’m expecting, I’m going to be in tears when the credits role; knowing its the last time Nolan & crew will be at the helm.

I find very funny that nobody really talks about catwoman’s involvement in the story. could it be the not so good looking catwoman’s pics or the fact that Anne Hathaway is the one playing it? i may only be speaking for myself here when i say i still cant see her as catwoman, but it is very interesting that Bane’s story is so heavy on this film that no one stops for a moment and think, with all known about the story and film by now, catwoman, necessary for the story? does the character have any weight?
just saying, interesting thing to think about don’t you think?

Ive been hoping that the “catwoman” pics we’ve been seeing make sense in context. Her costume looks like a….well….costume. I’m hoping she’s at a costume party at somehow is forced into the mix. So its catwoman, but not CATWOMAN.

TDK left Bruce without a love interest and that’s a must in any film. Making TDKR take place eight years later allows Bruce to not be in mourning the whole time. Selena Kyle’s “purpose” is to connect to female audiences. What her role in Nolan’s Batman universe is yet to be seen, but no matter what it is, he could’ve cast someone better that Hathaway!!! C’mon!

I definitely think that Catwoman will take over for Batman when he is defeated by Bane at some point of the movie. As a Burglar, she will look like a villain but along the way’ Batman will come face to face with The Cat and they will have no choice but to work together…
With so many Characters in the movie, The Bat will need some help. let us pretend Marion is Talia who is helped by Bane. It only make sense that Batman will need help. Especially with his old age now…
As for JGL, I am still puzzled. Personally, I think that with Gordon at the hospital, someone in the Police force should be on Batman side. I don`t know if he will betray him, but Batman needs someone in the police force. Unless Jgl is Gordon`s son who 8 yrs later grew up to become a cop…
I am definitely speculating about JGL but i just wanted to add my two cents lol
On July 20 2012, MAY THE BAT RISES!!!

Here’s another question, if Talia al Ghul and the League are employing Bane, won’t he just use them for his own personal gain? Bane pretty much strong-arms everyone into following his lead. My guess would be that Talia works for Bane.

I think JGL will take up where Gordon leaves off, makes sense that they would need someone on the police force that can help Batman, I like what someone said, maybe JGL character is Gordons son, It is 8 years later, the time line adds up.

It’s already confirmed Talia WON’T be in this movie. Why are people so anxious to see other villains jammed into this film. This isn’t Spider-man 3. More actors are in this film aren’t going to mean more villains. No one seems excited over Bane and Catwoman!

I looked up “What will be the villains in The Dark Knight Rises” and It gives me a million word articals on the movie. I realy don’t want to read ALL of that. Just tell me the villains! I think there is Bane and Catwoman. Is there more?